THIRD! Symposium
Symposium 3rd Cycle Programmes in the Arts: realities and practices
Saturday May 21st, 2016, Organised by DAS Graduate School, at GrootLab
With the newly founded DAS Graduate School of de Theaterschool, the involved master programmes and research group have formulated the ambition to expand their research education and establish a sustainable 3rd Cycle programme in Amsterdam - specifically devised for internationally operating and locally rooted practitioners in the performing arts.
This one-day-symposium serves as the kick off of our initiative, it is an opportunity to bring together colleagues and alumni who are working on 3rd Cycle programmes or are PhD candidates themselves. We are eager to learn from each other, compare notes, share experiences and reflect critically on a variety of models and motivations.
Existing realities
First realized in the UK in the 1990s, 3rd Cycle programmes have since become an international growth market, and doctoral research for artists and practice-led PhDs the new terminal degree in the arts (succeeding the masters and MFA). This trend, accelerated by the Bologna Accord, was slow to reach the continent and its value continues to be debated. There are currently around 230 worldwide PhD degrees in Art, Design and Architecture. European PhD degrees in the arts are catalogued by the ELIA, SHARE (2011-2013) and EARN networks. A small number of these cater to theater and dance; notable examples are in Flanders (Kask and other art schools), in Scandinavia like the Fellowship programme in Norway, the doctoral programmes in Helsinki and Stockholm Universities of the Arts, and also the postgraduate programme at the Berlin University of the Arts and the HafenCity University Hamburg.
Regionally relevant to the initiative of the Graduate School are the inter-university docARTES programme run by the Orpheus Institute in Ghent and the PhDarts programme in Den Haag, affiliated with the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KABK) in alliance with Leiden University. MaHKU, DAI and the Gerrit Rietveld Academy (LAPS/Making Things Public and Creator Doctus) each have more modest initiatives that facilitate individual artist researchers through external PhD candidacies at European universities. The Jan van Eyck Academy supports a one-year non-degree research residency model. These programmes are primarily focused on the visual and/or musical arts. Choreographers and theatermakers wishing to engage in 3rd Cycle programmes or practice-based PhD research must work with the resources of these institutes or study abroad.
Existing realities
First realized in the UK in the 1990s, 3rd Cycle programmes have since become an international growth market, and doctoral research for artists and practice-led PhDs the new terminal degree in the arts (succeeding the masters and MFA). This trend, accelerated by the Bologna Accord, was slow to reach the continent and its value continues to be debated. There are currently around 230 worldwide PhD degrees in Art, Design and Architecture. European PhD degrees in the arts are catalogued by the ELIA, SHARE (2011-2013) and EARN networks. A small number of these cater to theater and dance; notable examples are in Flanders (Kask and other art schools), in Scandinavia like the Fellowship programme in Norway, the doctoral programmes in Helsinki and Stockholm Universities of the Arts, and also the postgraduate programme at the Berlin University of the Arts and the HafenCity University Hamburg.
Regionally relevant to the initiative of the Graduate School are the inter-university docARTES programme run by the Orpheus Institute in Ghent and the PhDarts programme in Den Haag, affiliated with the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KABK) in alliance with Leiden University. MaHKU, DAI and the Gerrit Rietveld Academy (LAPS/Making Things Public and Creator Doctus) each have more modest initiatives that facilitate individual artist researchers through external PhD candidacies at European universities. The Jan van Eyck Academy supports a one-year non-degree research residency model. These programmes are primarily focused on the visual and/or musical arts. Choreographers and theatermakers wishing to engage in 3rd Cycle programmes or practice-based PhD research must work with the resources of these institutes or study abroad.
THIRD! 3rd Cycle research cohort
The negotiations, design and implementation of a 3rd Cycle programme at our Graduate School are complex given the current status of PhD degrees in the arts in the Netherlands. As the art academies are dependent on research universities for the bestowal of doctoral degrees, inter-institutional alliances must be established for university and hogescholen programmes to co-facilitate the three/four year research trajectories of artist candidates. With the exception of docARTES and PhDarts programmes, these alliances are constituted on an individual basis. As a first step in the initiation of 3rd Cycle study in Amsterdam, we are proposing THIRD! as a way forward that has proved efficient elsewhere. While not yet functioning as an enrolment PhD programme, the pilot THIRD! model will operate as a facilitating resource, preparing a cohort of candidates for the ‘best institutional fit’ in terms of their individual research projects, their degree aspirations and their funding needs and possibilities. This means that ALL models of graduate / postgraduate research will be open to investigation and negotiation: research fellowships, PhD and PhD equivalent degrees. While pursuing the establishment of a 3rd Cycle programme, the local team of tutors will facilitate a select group of artists wishing to undertake advanced research.
Particular practices
During one day we will bring together a group of max. 60 interested peers, next to colleagues and alumni who are working on 3rd Cycle programmes or are PhD candidates themselves. In two intense sessions we will present a number of concrete individual and institutional examples, compare notes, share experiences and reflect critically on the different models and motivations at hand.
The first session is dedicated to artists and alumni of DasArts and the Master of Choreography that are currently enrolled in international PhD programmes or have already finished. What are their motives to pursue advanced research in the field of the performing arts? How does the 3rd Cycle add to their practice and how do they practice their research? The second session however will focus on representatives from three different programmes in Europe in the field of the arts and performing arts. What are the motivations and aims of these programmes? What distinguishes their so called practice-led degrees from exclusively historical or theoretical investigations of the arts? How do they function in terms of selection, structure, research conditions, writing and evaluation and assessment?
The event ends with constructive feedback by invited ‘observers’, discussion and recommendations by all involved.
Programme Saturday May 21st, 2016 at GrootLab
10.00-10.30 welcome, introduction, situating the event
10.30-12.30 three case-study-presentations (3x20 min), followed by roundtable discussion Martin Nachbar (choreographer, PhD candidate, associated with the postgraduate programme ‘Assemblies and Participation’, Hamburg) Julian Klein (director, composer, PhD, founder of the Institute for Artistic Research, Berlin) Paz Rojo (choreographer, PhD candidate, Stockholm University of the Arts)
14.00-16.00 three case-study-presentations (3x20 min), followed by roundtable discussion, Eyal Sivan (lecturer Master Film, National Film Academy, Exeter University) Henk Borgdorff (professor at the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts, Leiden) Katrien Vuylsteke Vanfleteren (head of Research Office, School of Arts KASK & Conservatorium, University College Ghent)
16.30-17.30 reflections by Henk Borgdorff (professor at the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts, Leiden), and Bojana Mladenovic (artistic director SNDO, recommendations for THIRD!
Read the handout